Canberra: Research led by Australia’s nuclear and radiation safety agency has found no link between mobile phone use and various cancers.
The research, commissioned by the World Health Organization (WHO) and published on Tuesday, found no association between radio wave exposure from mobile phones and various cancers, including leukaemia, lymphoma and cancers of the thyroid and oral cavity.
It was the second WHO-commissioned systematic review undertaken by the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA), reports Xinhua news agency.
The first review, published in September 2024, explored the association between mobile phone use and brain and other head cancers and found no link.
Ken Karipidis, the lead author of both studies and assistant director of Health Impact Assessment at ARPANSA, said the new research assessed all available evidence on the association between mobile phones, mobile phone towers and cancers.
He said that the researchers found no link between radio wave exposure and the various cancers but that the team cannot be as certain of the results compared to the review on brain cancers.
“This is because there is not as much evidence on the association between these cancers and exposure to radio waves from wireless technology,” Karipidis said.
Rohan Mate, an ARPANSA scientist who contributed to the study, said the findings would “add to the body of knowledge to inform the public about wireless technology and cancer”.
The two systematic reviews will inform an updated assessment of the health effects of radio wave exposure currently being prepared by the WHO.
According to the WHO, Cancer is a large group of diseases that can start in almost any organ or tissue of the body when abnormal cells grow uncontrollably, go beyond their usual boundaries to invade adjoining parts of the body and/or spread to other organs. The latter process is called metastasising and is a major cause of death from cancer. A neoplasm and malignant tumour are other common names for cancer.
Cancer is the second leading cause of death globally, accounting for an estimated 9.6 million deaths, or 1 in 6 deaths, in 2018. Lung, prostate, colorectal, stomach and liver cancer are the most common types of cancer in men, while breast, colorectal, lung, cervical and thyroid cancer are the most common among women.
The cancer burden continues to grow globally, exerting tremendous physical, emotional and financial strain on individuals, families, communities and health systems. Many health systems in low- and middle-income countries are least prepared to manage this burden, and large numbers of cancer patients globally do not have access to timely quality diagnosis and treatment.
